"Don't Play With Fire": MK Stalin Slams Poll Roll Revision In Bihar

NDTV

2 days ago

Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin has come out strongly against the Election Commission of India's (EC) ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a dangerous attempt to "engineer outcomes, not reform the system."
In a sharply worded post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Mr Stalin warned that "any threat to our democracy will be met with firm resistance." "SIR is not about reform. It is about engineering outcomes. Don't play with fire," he wrote.
"Delhi knows the Bihar electorate that once voted for it will now vote it out. That's why it is trying to stop them from voting altogether. Tamil Nadu will fight this injustice with every democratic weapon at our disposal," he added.
His comments come days ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing on Monday, where the Opposition and civil society groups have challenged the Election Commission (EC) decision to carry out the sweeping voter verification exercise, starting in Bihar.
In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the EC has said that it has the constitutional authority to require voters to prove their citizenship through specific documents, especially for those born between July 1987 and December 2004. It has gone a step further to argue that even Parliament cannot curtail this authority.
The EC insists that this is essential to ensure only Indian citizens are enrolled and says that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) have full powers to seek and scrutinise such documents. It maintains that the onus to prove citizenship lies entirely on the individual.
The Commission has excluded commonly held documents such as Aadhaar, ration cards, and Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) issued before January 2025, from the 'acceptable list' for voter registration under SIR. It has also demanded parental citizenship proof from certain age groups - a move that has drawn widespread criticism.
Multiple opposition parties have slammed the timing, intent, and process of the SIR exercise. They allege that the EC's move, beginning in Bihar just ahead of state elections, is aimed at mass disenfranchisement, particularly of poor and minority communities.
They also point to procedural confusion, including the EC's mid-course change in requirements, initially mandating citizenship proof during door-to-door collection, only to later defer this to a separate verification process.
Ground reports from Bihar suggest that a large number of enumeration forms were submitted without documents. Citizens are now expected to produce proof in person within a tight window, raising fears that many may be excluded.
'Parallel Mechanism'
Legal experts point to a grey area. While the Union government alone can cancel citizenship, the EC claims that it, too, can verify citizenship for the limited purpose of electoral registration. Critics fear this could create a parallel and unaccountable determination mechanism.
The BJP has defended the special intensive revision. Stating that the EC is ensuring only genuine citizens vote is in the national interest, the party has accused opposition parties of fear-mongering and spreading misinformation for political gain. Its leaders have argued that the move helps plug gaps in the system and uphold the integrity of elections.